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Erasure

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Interesting exhibition at the Goodwood Art Foundation of work by three artists who use the removal of material to create art. According to the blurb the work also reflects environmental consciousness and cultural memory but I'm not sure I got that. Lais Amaral presented paintings which reminded me of maps created by scraping off layers of paint with tweezers and combs. I loved the effect and the colours in them. Solange Pessoa, a sculptor, showed stone in which she had carved symbols. They had a tactile quality and were shown on the ground both inside and outside a gallery. In the Piggott Gallery in the landscape Dana Awartani showed a video installation including a floor made of dyed sand in a traditional tile design. In the video she washes away a similar floor in a Middle Eastern style room. It was quite mesmeric. This was the first time I'd been to the Goodwood Art Foundation and I'll definitely be going back. As well as the lovely gallery spaces it presents ...
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Glowing + Alive

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Lovely small exhibition at Chichester Cathedral looking at their tapestries by John Piper. The show put the tapestries in the context of Piper's wider work for churches and how this reflected his religious beliefs. It also talked about the influences on these projects including the colours of stained glass. It then went on to discuss the commissioning of this work and others for the cathedral and took us though the iconography of the work. I must admit I love the work but never really looked at it properly. There was some fascinating archive material including a postcard with a preliminary sketch of ideas. It was a nice touch to include a chasuble designed for the cathedral by Piper which provided a nice focal point for the show. Closes 15 November 2026
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Ashes to Fire

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Thoughtful exhibition at Chichester Cathedral of seven oil paintings by Alice Carter. The works were a meditation on key moments in the Easter story from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. I loved how they reflected the mood of each moment from the gloom of the first event to the joy of the last. The works were shown in a line in the South Transept and looked jewel like in the space. Closed 24 May 2026
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Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

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Glamorous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the life of Elsa Schiaparelli and her fashion house. I loved this show! It was so well set out and full of beautiful clothes both from the original house and its reboot in this century under Daniel Roseberry. I liked the way it set out the ethos of Schiaparelli's designs then built on that to look at her clients and accessories. It used Roseberry's pieces sparingly through the early rooms before introducing a dedicated display at the end including Ariana Grande's Oscar dress complete with ruby slipper on the back. I think my favourite room was the semi-circle of jackets displayed like art works and at eye level so you could study the details. That was the only place where I experienced a bottle neck partly caused by the dramatic changing lighting which meant people were pausing to get the best light for a photograph and yes, I admit I was one of the guilty parties. I loved the room examining her collaboration ...
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Online Curator's Talk: Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

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Useful online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing their exhibition on the designer Elsa Schiaparelli. I went to the show the next day and this was a very useful introduction to it. I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful clothes it was good to have a narrative in my head already rather than having to piece it together via the labels. The was both enhanced by but also suffered from having four speakers, Sonnet Stanfill, Lydia Caston, Rosalind McKever and Simon Sladen. All of them were good but it made the talk a bit fragmented. They outlined the four themes of the show and talked us through the highlights.
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Primate of All England The Archbishop of Canterbury Through Time

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Moving exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library looking at the history of the Archbishops of Canterbury. I say moving as I was there as Sarah Mullally was being enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral. As I was out and about I wasn't able to watch but spotted this show was on when I was in the area. I looked round the show then sat in the corner and watched the news reports coming through on BBC News live. The show highlighted some of the more intriguing figures mainly with a facsimile of archive material. It would have been nice to see more original pieces but given it was an unmonitored show I can see why this wasn't possible. A side room had display cases of objects a lot of which seem to have been donated/left behind by Archbishop Davidson. My favourite piece was the order of service for the enthronement of William Temple in 1942 signed by dignitaries who attended given the day. Closed 4 May 2026
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Melissa Scott-Miller: London Parks and Gardens

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Wonderful exhibition at the Garden Museum of Melissa Scott-Miller's paintings of London Gardens. I had come across Scott-Miller's work before in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and loved it so it was fantastic to see it en masse. She pulls you in to look at the detail and to spot people, dogs and cats dominated by the foliage. Most moving was to see paintings of the museum's own gardens alongside as some aspects of the London great parks I didn’t know so I need to do more wandering. Closed 29 March 2026
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